


Golden Years

by Gloriana_Chimera



Category: The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), The Mummy Series
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Fluff and Humor, Growing Old, Multi, OT3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29498709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gloriana_Chimera/pseuds/Gloriana_Chimera
Summary: The trio of intrepid explorers won't let being in their golden years keep them from having adventures.
Relationships: Ardeth Bay/Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	Golden Years

**Author's Note:**

> Companion piece to Brothers 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/29247474

Rick tried not to groan when he lowered himself to a folding fabric stool near the fire. Even if he didn't quite feel like a man in his late 60s, he certainly didn't feel young anymore. A lifetime of saving the world from ancient curses and creatures took a toll on the body. 

He was just starting to zone out when his husband sank onto a similar stool beside him. A nostalgic smile crept onto his face and he bumped shoulders with Ardeth affectionately. "I feel like Evie is going to drag us on another adventure soon."

The fire crackled, sending sparks into the night sky in perfect time with the Medjai's soul deep sigh. "So I should put together a few travel packs?"

"Yea, I'll make sure she remembers to leave enough clues for Rashidi to find us if we're gone too long." Rick was still confident in his ability to get them out of most of the situations they found themselves in these days, but it never hurt to have a back up plan. 

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled. I wonder if he ever complains to Alex about anything else but us?" Ardeth loved his son dearly, but the older the boys got, the more he understood the delight his mother once took in exasperating him as an adult. 

"Probably not, I think we cause him more grief than all of the Medjai in training put together." Rick tossed another piece of wood onto the fire, sending another burst of sparks to join the stars in the inky night sky. 

"Do you have any idea where exactly she wants to go?"

Rick shook his head "She said something about Isis and water, so maybe Phillae? But I don't remember there being anything unexplored in that temple."

"We are not going to Phillae" Evelyn wrapped her arms around Ardeth's neck from behind. She brushed a bit of his more salt than pepper hair out of the way and kissed his temple. 

She moved to sit on the sand between the two of them and leaned her head against the outside of Rick's thigh. "There's a very small temple of Isis on the far edge of a massive aquifer. The Bembridge Scholars found it on their last expedition, but they triggered a cave in. " She fidgeted and used a stick to poke at the fire aggressively. "Which they didn't bother to document! I only know because Marion told me in her letter with the article. They have no respect for how their actions change these sites!" Talking about the Bembridge Scholars always got her riled up. And it was always entertaining to listen to her complain as though she wasn't directly involved in the complete destruction of two ancient temples. 

"They decided it was only a temple to Isis, too small, too far away from the center of the cult of Isis to possibly contain anything of cultural value." The derision in her voice was palpable, and Ardeth was reminded of all the times he and Rick had turned her anger into an entirely different kind of passion. Even after they had reached the age where things didn't always rise to the occasion, the three of them had found new ways to pleasure each other. 

"But, I think they were wrong. Very, very wrong. The Isis and Osiris myth talks about Isis performing great magic to raise Osiris from the dead and subsequently conceive Horus. It also talks about how she flew all across the land to find the pieces of his body. It would make sense she would find somewhere away from the Nile and Seth to work that magic, and that wherever she went would have a strong source of magic. " The fire light played across her face, accentuating the wrinkles and lines accumulated from a life in the sun and full of laughter. 

Both Rick and Ardeth were still as transfixed listening to her excitedly describe her theories about how Isis may have found a holy place of Nu, the God of The Primordial Waters, and used the power to resurrect Osiris. 

"In the pictures of the entrance to the temple, there is a symbol associated with Nu, but its position in the string of hieroglyphs means it would actually be Nuanet, the female form of Nu. I think it's the first Temple of Isis, dedicated to the Neverending Waters of Nu."

"If it is, that sounds like something the Medjai should keep watch over." Ardeth mused. 

"It is! And Rashidi has been so very busy training up the newest Medjai, he seems so frazzled and I imagine if we were able to verify whether or not the site is dangerous it will take some of the workload off his shoulders."

Ardeth and Rick exchanged a glance over her head. They were pretty sure life in the camps was much less stressful for their younger son, deputy commander of the medjai, when the three of them were in England. 

"Here we go again" Rick muttered to himself, but his smile was almost as wide as the ones lighting up both Evelyn and Ardeth's faces.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rick paused just inside the small side room of the temple. He had spent the past couple of hours setting up camp and scouting the surrounding area while Evelyn and Ardeth started exploring. 

The temple was built into an outcropping of rock the size of a city block, and it had taken Evelyn several hours to figure there was a second way in. But by then, Rick had already set up camp near the caved in entrance. 

Now that everything was settled, he could relax and enjoy himself. He fished his camera out of the bag slung across his back and snapped a few candid photos. Evie had her face pressed close to a row of hieroglyphs on the wall, fingers following the carvings while Ardeth stood behind her, arms wrapped around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. 

They had a tradition of taking a group picture with their favorite find, but as much as he loved the albums of them smiling at the camera with some relic or other, he much preferred the spontaneous ones. 

The click of the camera's shutter caught Ardeth's attention and he looked over at Rick, grinning widely. He returned the grin and took another picture, managing to catch Evie worrying her lip while she puzzled over the hieroglyphs. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later.

Rick finished organizing their supplies and glanced over at Evie "Any luck?" They had gotten trapped inside the temple when Evie triggered some sort of mechanism that revealed a fountain built into the wall. Unfortunately, the stone door now blocked their only way out, and was seemingly locked in place. 

"Some, this is older than any other dialect I've ever seen, even in the Medjai scrolls." Evie scowled at the wall in front of her, brushing the loose strands of grey hair out of her eyes. "There are some pots of kohl here, but I have no idea what they're for."

"The water is clear and should be safe to drink at least." Ardeth added as he finished his investigation of the fountain and moved to help with the translation.

Rick lowered himself to the sand and leaned back against one of the columns. He knew from experience it was better to stay out of their way, so he pulled a dime novel from the pack and flipped to where he left off.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Evie's triumphant scream startled Rick from his nap. "What! What!" He was halfway to his feet, book thrown to the ground, gun drawn before their laughter clued him in to the fact that there wasn't any danger. He scowled at them.

"Ohh, don't look so sour darling, I think you're going to like what I found, all we have to do is make a ritual offering to Isis, and if she deems it worthy, she bestows her blessings and the stone should move back into its original spot!"

Rick looked down at their supplies and grimaced "Okay, but I don't think we have anything that will impress a goddess." 

"It's not that kind of offering, habibi." Ardeth laughed. "We have to drink from the fountain, paint each other with kohl, and prove our love to one another." 

"Prove our…Oh." Rick's face lit up with a sly grin. He grabbed the blanket from their supplies and joined them near the fountain. "I think we can manage that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They awoke to their son's outraged scream followed, by a string of curses in at least six different languages. It might have been more, but he had already retreated. 

The two newly minted medjai who were left behind awkwardly attempted to help gather their supplies while they got dressed. 

They had just about finished when Rashidi came back into hearing range. Up to seven languages Rick reflected proudly. He would give them a very animated scolding about the dangers of not telling anyone where they were, how much time the young Medjai took to dig them out and whatever else he could think of to mask his concern. 

His mother would pat his arm, apologize, and then the same thing that happened to all the rest of them would happen. Evie would start describing the temple, the implications, the water, the legends and within minutes the radiant joy she never ran out of would take the wind out of his sails and they would spend the trip back making plans to preserve the site. 

He and Ardeth would know they were forgiven when they were allowed to consult on the logistics of keeping the temple guarded. 

All in all there were certainly worse ways to spend his retirement.


End file.
